1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicle racks, and more particularly to an assembly for retaining a ladder on a vehicle rack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art has disclosed various devices for securing ladders during their transport on a motor vehicle. Reference may be had, e.g., to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,134,823 (ladder holder), 3,614,064 (stabilizing jack structure for mobile vehicle) 4,072,257 (load carrying assembly), 4,827,742 (security assembly for vehicle roofrack), 5,154,258 (lockable ladder securing bracket), 5,186,588 (ladder rack ladder latch), 5,833,414 (ratcheting cargo load bracing bar), 5,918,488 (ladder lock) 6,290,113 (ladder rack lockdown), and 6,523,730 (locking device for ladders). The entire disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
By way of illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,730 discloses and claims: “A locking assembly for securing an item to a roofrack of a vehicle, comprising: a mounting bracket; a plurality of walls defining a channel, said channel disposed in said mounting bracket and extending therethrough; an elongated opening, said elongated opening disposed in one of said plurality of walls of said channel; a shaft, said shaft having a first end, a second end, a pair of side walls, and a posterior wall, said first end of said shaft positioned within said channel for slidable movement therein, said second end of said shaft being configured in a U-shape and adapted to engage the item to be secured to the roofrack; and a plurality of grooves equidistantly disposed along the posterior wall of said shaft for latching said shaft in said channel to prevent said shaft from slidable movement therein; a sheave member having a circumference, said sheave member mounted for pivotal movement to said mounting bracket; a plurality of protruding teeth disposed on said circumference of said sheave member and evenly spaced there around; a handle member mounted to said sheave member; a spring, said spring having a first end and a second end, wherein said first end is attached to said mounting bracket and said second end is attached to said handle.” The entire disclosure of this patent is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
The ladder securing devices of the prior art are relatively complex and contain numerous parts, including in some cases teeth and springs that can wear out or fail. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ladder retaining assembly that is simple, reliable, and contains no moving parts. It is another object of the present invention to provide a ladder retaining assembly that secures a ladder or multiple ladders to a vehicle rack.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ladder retaining assembly that can be attached to most commercially available vehicle racks with little or no modification.
It is another object of the invention to provide a ladder retaining assembly that will prevent unauthorized removal of a ladder or ladders from a vehicle rack.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a ladder retaining assembly that can be used to retain various types of ladders (for example, an extension ladder, a step ladder, an adjustable extension ladder, a stairway ladder, a straight-sided ladder, or a scaffold trestle) to a vehicle roof rack.
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the discussion appearing in the remainder of this specification.